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Large Hadron Collider – more delays or mere bumps in the road

The news last week that the Large Hadron
Collider, the massive particle accelerator deep underground at the
European physics laboratory CERN, suffered another major setback
seemed to garner a much milder response than some people might have
expected.

Officials running the huge device staged
an impressive soiree early last fall for dignitaries and
journalists to tout the near completion of what could be argued as
one of the most complex construction projects of all time. And
while all concerned understood that the event was mostly symbolic
— that is, they weren’t “starting” the
actual physics work – it was important then to signify what
had been accomplished and to increase the anticipation for when
experiments actually began.

But then disaster struck in the vast
17-mile underground tunnel when an explosion killed power to some
of the huge superconducting magnets meant to guide the subatomic
particles, damaging electrical connections and halting work leading
to the experiments. Instead, all attention turned to repairing the
damage and rechecking equipment. Those inspections yielded other
problems with wiring splices that could limit the effectiveness of
the giant superconducting magnets.

The verdict: The start of actual
scientific work is now postponed until this fall and even then, the
apparatus will be run at only about half of its planned capacity
for some time until the researchers are confident all the bugs are
worked out of the machinery.

What’s surprising about all this is
not these unexpected delays and postponements, or even the stepping
back from pushing the machinery to full power. Engineers and
researchers alike will quickly point to the fact that massively
complex projects like this will inevitably face delays and
unexpected hurdles, and when they are encountered, caution and
prudence is the only wise approach.

No, what’s surprising is that there
has been no loud outcry about delays and cost overruns on a project
that’s already taken 15 years and cost $9 billion. A look
back at earlier big, expensive science projects almost always
included loud voices when deadlines were missed and the price tags
rose. The public, often fueled by politicians, complained over
additional costs and seemingly unkept promises.

Consider the Hubble Space Telescope, for
example.

Originally proposed to cost around
$500-600 million, delays and construction problems forced a near
tripling of that cost. When it was finally launched, the Hubble was
seven years behind schedule and $1 billion over budget. And then
came the problem with the instrument’s blurred vision which
required a Space Shuttle mission to replace components and correct
its “eyesight.” Add to that the cost of operating the
Space Telescope Science Institute in Baltimore and several
“servicing” missions to the Hubble by the Shuttle and
the total costs for the project as of this year has been estimated
at more than $10 billion.

Where is the outrage that we’ve come
to expect over the unplanned cost of major science projects like
the Hubble program?

Perhaps in the current economic situation,
with a global recession and governmental bailouts reaching
trillions of dollars, the idea of spending more tens of millions on
the project seems small potatoes in comparison.

More likely, it simply vanished in the awe
and fascination that came with the wonderous images of the universe
that Hubble has produced. When looking at the now-famous image of
the Pillars of Creation, where massive clouds of interstellar gas
and dust form the birthplace of stars, how can one worry about the
price?

Hubble let us peer into the vastness of
space, to see for the first time the far reaches of our universe
and the magic of creation. In doing so, it humbled us somewhat,
reminding that regardless of how serious our problems appear, we
are but a speck in the cosmos.

The LHC should do likewise, peering into
inner space and the vastness of the subatomic world, to seek out
the most elemental building blocks making up all that we know and
all that we are. And if it costs a bit more money and time, I, for
one, am patient, anticipating the as-yet-unseen Hubble-like wonders
it should bring.__Earle Holland (OU_)